NFL Player News
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Ricky Seals-Jones TE | IND
Browns' Ricky Seals-Jones: Has career-high TDs
Seals-Jones had 14 receptions for 229 yards and four touchdowns over 14 games in 2019.
Seals-Jones had a nose for the end zone, posting a career-high four touchdowns on just 22 targets. He was not on the radar to start the season, but David Njoku's injury opened the door for Cleveland's other tight ends. While Seals-Jones received red-zone targets, he wasn't on the field all that much outside of those situations -- he played no more than 32 percent of the offensive snaps in 12 of his 14 games played. The 24-year-old enters the offseason as a restricted free agent and could benefit if the Browns opt to bring him back. New head coach Kevin Stefanski often deployed multiple tight ends while with the Vikings, according to Scott Patsko of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. For the Browns, a team that did not target its third wideouts much beyond Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, Stefanski could rely more on tight ends in 2020.
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Travis Kelce TE | KC
Chiefs' Travis Kelce: No listing on Friday's report
Kelce (knee) doesn't have an injury designation for the Super Bowl on Feb. 2 against the 49ers.
During the first week of prep for the big game, the Chiefs continued to cap Kelce's reps, holding him to an LP/DNP/LP practice regimen. Still, his lack of designation Friday indicates the team isn't worried about his availability. While San Francisco's defense has held tight ends to an NFL-best 5.9 yards per target this season (including playoffs), the unit has allowed the 14th-most receptions (80) and ninth-most TDs (nine) to the position. Considering Kelce's stature, he seems like a good bet to prosper in the Super Bowl.
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Josh Oliver TE | MIN
Jaguars' Josh Oliver: Rookie campaign derailed by injury
Oliver (back) spent the final six weeks of the season on injured reserve and totaled three catches for 15 yards in four games this season.
The rookie third-round pick missed the preseason and the first six games of the year with a hamstring injury, and he didn't see much involvement in the offense before suffering small fractures in his back Week 11. The starting job at tight end remains up for grabs, so a strong offseason could go a long way towards securing a larger role in 2020.
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Travis Kelce TE | KC
Chiefs' Travis Kelce: Back at practice Friday
Kelce (knee) is participating in Friday's practice, Jeff Darlington of ESPN reports.
Kelce was held out of Thursday's session while battling the flu bug that's gone around Kansas City's roster since mid-January. The star tight end was listed as limited Wednesday due to a knee issue, so it remains to be seen whether he still has a cap on his reps. In any case, he'll have another full week of practice to get healthy before the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.
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Jimmy Graham TE | NO
Packers' Jimmy Graham: Could stay with Packers?
General manager Brian Gutekunst said he was pleased with Graham's contributions to the Packers in 2019, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.
Graham had some nice moments, including two solid games in the playoffs, but the overall picture was a 38-447-3 receiving line in 16 regular-season games for a player in the second year of a three-year, $30 million contract. It's hard to make any reasonable argument for the Packers retaining the 33-year-old without some form of pay cut on his $7.45 million base salary (per overthecap.com) for 2020. The team could instead look to external options or 2019 third-round pick Jace Sternberger to fill the pass-catching role at tight end.
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Mason Schreck TE | HOU
Bengals' Mason Schreck: Reserve role in 2019
Schreck played four snaps on offense across two regular-season contests with the Bengals in 2019.
Schreck spent the first 11 games of the season on Cincinnati's practice squad, and he was confined to a reserve role upon joining the 53-man roster. The Bengals originally drafted Schreck in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft, so he'll likely continue to be viewed as a developmental project heading into 2020.
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Jonnu Smith TE | PIT
Titans' Jonnu Smith: Shows improvement in 2019
Smith hauled in 35 of his 44 targets for 439 yards and three touchdowns across 16 games in the 2019 season.
Smith benefitted from another injury-plagued campaign for Delanie Walker (ankle), posting career-best marks in targets, yards and receptions. He also showed a strong rapport with Ryan Tannehill, racking up more than 50 receiving yards in four of the nine games that the quarterback started. However, plenty of questions remain for the fourth-year tight end heading into the 2020 season, particularly the potential return of Walker. Even if Smith were to remain the starting tight end in Tennessee, he may be an inconsistent performer due to the overall lack of passing volume in the Titans offense.
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Hayden Hurst TE | LAC
Ravens' Hayden Hurst: Shows improvement in 2019
Hurst caught 30 of 39 targets for 349 yards and two touchdowns in 2019.
Hurst showed significant improvement in Year 2 after a rookie year that was impacted by a foot injury. He commanded the fifth-highest target share on the team at 9.2 percent and proved to be a viable target downfield with an 8.6 aDOT and a 76.9 percent catch rate. While those are promising peripheral numbers, the fact that he was behind Nick Boyle in the pecking order for targets, even down the stretch, is not an encouraging sign. It's fair to argue that Baltimore misused Hurst considering that Boyle had worse advanced numbers in terms of aDOT, catch rate and drop rate, but Boyle isn't going anywhere with his new contract. Mark Andrews will remain the primary target at tight end in Baltimore, and there's a chance the offense funnels more targets to the receivers in 2020 if the team overhauls the position as expected. Hurst still has some upside, but it's too crowded of a tight end room to make him worth spending any sort of significant draft capital in standard redraft leagues.
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Travis Kelce TE | KC
Chiefs' Travis Kelce: Comes down with flu
Kelce (knee) will be held out of practice Thursday due to an illness, James Palmer of NFL Network reports.
Listed as limited Wednesday due to a lingering knee injury, Kelce now may be laid up for a handful of days as he's caught the flu bug that has hit other Chiefs over the last week-plus. Fortunately, he has a week and a half to return to full health for the Super Bowl, when he'll be facing a 49ers defense that gave up an NFL-low 5.9 yards per target to tight ends this season (including playoffs).
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Geoff Swaim TE | CLE
Jaguars' Geoff Swaim: Quiet first season in Jacksonville
Swaim (concussion/ankle) recorded 13 catches for 65 yards in six games before being placed on injured reserve in October.
The 26-year-old signed a two-year, $6.6 million contract with the Jaguars in the spring, but he barely played more than 50 percent of the offensive snaps before being shut down for good. Jacksonville could save over $3.7 million in cap space by releasing Swaim, so he's certainly not guaranteed to be back in 2020 despite currently being under contract.